Apparatus for producing articles from sheet material



June 16, 1931. A. w. GUDGE ETAL APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING ARTICLES FROMSHEET MATERIAL Original Fild June 9, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 mu /1mm ,44/5/05 W64 June 16, 1931. w GUDGE ET L 1,810,206

APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING ARTICLES FROM SHEET MATERIAL Original Filed June9, 1928 2 Sheets-Shee 2 fivwev/am Auqas/as 14 aaqe [0/7 Wane/ey-Patented June 16, 1931 UNITED STATES AUGUSTUS WILKES .GUDGE, OF NEWARK,

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CICECRO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS T WESTERN ELECTRIC COMQRANY, INCORPORATED,OF NEW YORK, N. Y ACOBZBORATION OF NEW YORK APPARATUS E03 ,rnonncrneAn'rIo Es FROM. SHEET MATERIAL Original application filed June 9, 1928,Serial I\T o.'284,20 8. Divided and this application filed March 6, v1929; Serial No, 344,854.

more particularly to an apparatus for form-.

' ing damping rings for-acoustic apparatus,

7 of gu1de rollers from which t passes between and is a division of ourPatent No. 1,759,844 of May27, 1930.

The primary object of the present inven- 'tion is to provide a simpleand inexpensive apparatus for quickly andeconomically producing articlesof sheet material.

In accordance with the, general features of the invention, there isprovided in one embodiment thereof, an apparatus for forming dampingrings foraco-ustic apparatus in which a ribbon of paperof suitable widthis first preliminarily folded in alongitudinal direction and thenfurther folded in order to obtain a predetermined width inthelongitudinal folds produced therein. After the ribbon is folded it ismoved between a pair a plurality of spring pressed blades to a pair ofpressure rolls which crease the folded paper to form a tape ofpredetermined width. The damping rings are then stamped from the tape bya die having a larger diameter than the tape thereby leaving an integralconnection between the leaves ofthe damping ring. v

It is believed that a complete understandingo f the invention maybehadby reference to the following description, taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation ofthe apparatus for forming damping rings embodying the features oftheinvention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view of a portion of the forming apparatus, 3

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan View ofthe apparatus taken on "line 33 ofFig. 1; j Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view offaportion of the apparatustaken on line 4-4 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a detailed view-taken on lines "5--5 of Fig. 1

Fig. 6 is an elevation-of a portion of the feeding mechanism with asection through a portion of the forming mechanism;

50 Fig. '7 isan end view of a portionof the forming mechanism with across section through a portion of the advancing mechanism;

Fig. 8 is an elevationof a portion of the advancing mechanism taken online 88 of Fig. 7;

Fig. 9 is a detailed view of adamping ring made by the improved formingapparatus, showing the leaves of the damping ring extended, and 7 Figs.10 and ils'how aplan-and-endview, respectively, of the damping "ring asit appears W' hen completed by the apparatus with its composite parts innormal position.

Referring to the drawings, an apparatus embodying the invention is shownmounted upon abase 15. At one end of the base a roll of paper 16 ismounted upon an upright spindle 17 upon which it is resiliently held bya pair of springs 18 attached tothe mid- I inthe form of a. ribbonaround the guide 21 to a preliminary forming member 22 which is providedwith an undulated slot (Fig. 5) whose undulations correspond to thenumber of folds to be imparted to the paper. From the preliminaryforming device 22*the partially folded ribbon which has received itspreliminary outline passes between a plurality of dovetailed blades 23(Fig. 4) which are alternately supported on opposite sides of theribbon. Each of the blades 23 is mounted in a tapering bar and the barsare supported upon standards 24 and 25 in such a manner that the bladesconverge in the direction of travel of *the ribbon so thatthe ribbonenters the blades as it is formed by the preliminary forming device andleaves the blades in the form of a composite tape of six leaves. Thebars supporting the outside blades are carried by bolts which aremovable in slots upon loosening of the thumb screws 26 to permit aseparating of the blades for the purpose of threading the ribbon ofpaper through the blades when a new roll Oi paper is inserted {in theapparatus.

It is quite impoI-tant-thatthe leaves of the folded paper should have apredetermined width so as to leave a connection of uniform lengthbetween the leaves when a damping ring is later stamped therefrom. Thewidth of the leaves is determined by the amount of overlapping ordovetailing of the blades 23. In order to adjust the amount ofoverlapping of the blades, the standard 24 is mounted upon a slidablemember 31, a portion of which engages a T-shaped slot in the base. Aclamping member 32 occupies the T-portion of the slot and serves toclamp the member 31 in place upon the operati n f a cam which exerts anupward force upona bolt 34 to which the clamping member 32 is attached.

The folded ribbon passes from the blades 23 through a pair of guiderolls 35 to a plurality of parallel blades 36 which are alternatelysupported on opposite sides of the ribbon. On the one side, the bladesare carried by a support 37 and on the other side by an arm 38 whichpivots about the point (Fig. 3). The arm 2:38 also carries a pair ofcompression members 41 (Fig. '7} which engage the blades 36 at the pointwhere they contact with the folded ribbon and exert a pressure thereon.A spring 42 (Fig. engages the arm 38 and serves to hold it in operativeposition. In oreer to thread the paper tape through the blades 36 thearm 38 may be swung about its pivot 39 to render the blades more.accessible. The folded paper passes from the blades 36 between creasingrolls 43 and 44 and thence to a punch press 45 in which the dampingrings 46 are stamped from the tape. 4

The roll 43 is mounted upon a shaft 49 and mounted upon the same shaftis a toothed wheel 40 (Fig. 8) which is engaged by a plu rality of pawls47. The pawls 47 are mounted in a cup-shaped opening of a wheel 48 whichis loosely mounted upon the shaft 4-9. A link 51 connects the wheel 48to a. bell crank lever 52 which is actuated by an ad justable linkattached to a plunger 27 of the punch press 45, a movable punch and astationary die carried by the plunger and the frame of the press beingindicated at 28 and 29, respectively. The bell crank lever is providedwith a slot 54 in which a slidablc member 55 is adjustably mounted forthe purpose of varying the amount of movement of the link 51 and thetravel of the tape. When the plunger 27 of the punch press 45 descends,the pawls 47 will slide over the toothed wheel 40, and when the plungerascends, the pawls will engage the teeth on the wheel 40 to rotate theroll 43 an amount sufficient to advance an unstamped portion of the tapeunder the plunger of the press. A handle 50 is also provided by whichthe rolls may be rotated manually in threading a ribbon into theapparatus.

The rolls 43 and 44 are interconnected by gears 56 and 57, causing therolls to have the same peripheral speed. The lower roll is mounted uponan arm 58 which is pivoted at 59, permitting the roll to be dropped forthe purpose of threading the paper tape through the rolls. The lowerroll is maintained in pressing engagement with the upper roll and thepaper tape by means of a spring pressed plunger 61 and may be disengagedtherefrom by moving a cam shaped lever 62 to; its vertical position.

In the operation of the apparatus, the paper ribbon passes over theguide 21 to the preliminary forming apparatus 22 where the ribbon islongitudinally formed into a plurality of undulations. The paper ribbonis then passed to the overlapping converging blades where folds of apredetermined width are imparted to the paper and from which the paperemerges in the form of an accordion pleated tape of a predeterminedwidth passing through guide rollers 35 and between the spring pressedblades 86 into the rolls 43 and 44 where the edges of the tape arefirmly pressed together to form a crease. The paper is thenintermittently advanced to the punch press 45 by the mechanism describedabove. The diameter of the punch 28 is made slightly larger than thewidth of the folded leaves so that when a clamping device 46 is stampedfrom the paper tape a narrow hinge 61 will remain on opposite sides ofthe damping device connecting the various leaves as shown in Fig. 9. Itwill be seen therefore that it is very important that the paper tape befolded in such a manner that the leaves are always of a uniform width inorder that the hinge or connection between the leaves shall have auniform length. Figs. 9, 10 and 11 show a damping device in which theleaves are interconnected by hinges or connections 61 which form cordsof the annular periphery of the damping device.

It will be understood that the embodiment of the invention hereindescribed and illustrated is merely a convenient and useful form of theinvention which is capable of many other modifications without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. In an article forming apparatus, means for supporting a ribbon ofpaper, a plurality of blades positioned to alternately engage oppositesides of the paper to produce folds, a guide roller for engaging thepaper as it leaves the blades, a second set of blades for resilientlypressing the folded paper, and a pair of rolls for creasing the paper.

2. In an article forming apparatus, a spindle for rotatably supporting aroll of material, a cradle mounting for the spindle, a forming device,means for guiding the ma terial to the forming device, a second formingdevice having overlapping blades engaging opposite sides of the materialbeing formed, and a pair of rolls for creasing the edges of the foldedmaterial. 7

3. In an apparatus for forming damping rings, means for producing afolded tape of a predetermined width including a set of blades forresiliently pressing the folded tape, a punch'press having a punch forstamping rings from the tape, and means operatively connected to thepunch for advancing the tape when the punch is withdrawn therefrom. I

4. In an apparatus for forming damping rings, means for producing afolded tape of a predetermined width, a reciprocating punch for stampingrings from the tape, advancing means for the tape comprising a bellcrank lever, an extensible link connecting the lever with the punch, andan adjustable connection between the link and the lever for adjustingthe movement of the lever.

5. In an apparatus for producing damping ringsfa preliminaryformingmeans for producing a plurality of longitudinal undulations in a ribbonof paper, means for converging the undulations to form a tape, a pair ofrollers for guiding the tape as it leaves the converging means, a pairof creasing rolls, a plurality of parallel blades between which the tapeis guided and ressed before being acted upon by the creasing rolls, andmeans for stamping damping rings having interconnected leaves from thetape.

6. In an apparatus for producing damping rings, means for longitudinallyfolding a ribbon of material, a pair of creasing rolls, a plurality ofparallel blades between which the folded ribbon is guided and pressedbefore being acted upon bythe creasing rolls, resiliently mounted armsfor exerting a pressure on the blades, and means for stamping dampingrings from the folded ribbon.

7. In an apparatus for producing damping rings, means for folding aribbon of material into a tape of predetermined width, a punch having adiameter greater than the width of the tape, and means for actuating thepunch to stamp damping rings having interconnected leaves from the tape.

8. In an article forming apparatus, means for supporting a ribbon ofmaterial, means for-producing open folds therein of a predeterminedwidth, means for closing the folds in the ribbon and creasing the edgesthereof,

and a plurality of parallel spring pressed blades between which theribbon is guided and pressed before being acted upon by the fold closingand edge creasing means.

i In witness whereof, we hereunto subscribe our names this 19th day ofFebruary, A. D., 1929, and this 22d day of February, A. D.,

AUGUSTUS WILKES GUDGE. EARL WENSLEY. v I

